Essay About Things Fall Apart
Within the novel, Things Fall Apart states: Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.
In the Igbo society, women are seen as merely tools, or the means to bore the child of a warrior of their clan. With this, men are seen as the “dominant” sex and they hold sovereignty over their families. Women are relegated to a more or less humble position, usually in fear of their husbands. Though Okonkwo’s temper with his family is never portrayed as admirable, he apparently has the right to be aggressive at home.
Achebe, a well-known poet, story writer, and novelist in addition to being a critic had been a mentor and role model to many African writers – and is often referred to as ‘father of modern African writing’ by many. However, like many other novelists who do find their success with an early book, he had found himself almost entirely defined by “Things Fall Apart.” This novel in particular was about the strength that the human society found in their communities alone, and the changes to come along with colonial stress. Within Things Fall Apart, Achebe sheds light on the way that the women are treated in Igbo Society by making it seem as though they serve very little purpose and showing that the men have dominance over the females and their families instead of allowing them peace.
In a society where masculinity defined who you are as a person, women were not treated as though they were an important part of society by many. Achebe portrays in TFA that the women of the Igbo village’s only purpose were to cook, look after their children, educate them, and finally attend to their husbands when needed. Despite the fact that these women of the Igbo village were described as being insignificant to this society, the women were really the only people who of which filled the gaps of the Igbo society and did pretty much most of the work needed to be done. Along with this fact, the women are the only ones who do all of the work within their households and families, unlike the men. For instance, they are the ones that cook, clean, take care of everyone, as well as do other everyday tasks that are easily overlooked by the men of their society.
While all of this may be true, there is still the fact that women play other very essential roles within the Igbo community. They were seen as Goddesses, and they were the only beings fit to be that very role, Along with this, women are seen as child’s educator. They educate these children by reading to them stories, teaching them to socialize with other people of the village, and overall have a good demeanor, especially to a female.
As it states within Things Fall Apart: Children sat around their mother’s cooking fire telling stories.
The children were taught good morals by their parents and in this instance the mothers, who of which had encouraged these children to expand their knowledge on having good social values and human interaction skills. The women really were regarded as inferior within this society, however, this fact did not turn her down from performing her duties especially that of being a mother and model to the following generation to come.
